


"My Destiny, It is Mine Alone"

by farad



Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-01
Updated: 2012-07-01
Packaged: 2017-11-08 23:08:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/448571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/farad/pseuds/farad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the Daybook prompt: Inez/Vin, OW, their love affair was built on respect.  Thanks to the wonderful Randi for posting these on Delicious.com! This probably isn't quite what the prompter wanted but it's what my muse provided.  Sorry, unknown prompter!</p>
            </blockquote>





	"My Destiny, It is Mine Alone"

**Author's Note:**

> Un-beta-ed, all mistakes my own.

_"INEZ: You cannot beat don Paulo._

 

_BUCK: And if I stand aside, and I let him take you, what kind of man would I be?_

 

_INEZ: One that is alive._

 

_Shot of Rafael watching them from the boardwalk. Buck sees him._

 

_INEZ: If not, you will make me responsible for your death. I cannot live with that._

 

_BUCK: Let me tell you something. I don't know this don of yours, but I have met men like him. I see it in his eyes what he's got planned for you. It's a living hell. You tell me I'm wrong, and I'll walk away._

 

_INEZ: If that has to be my destiny, it is mine alone._

 

_BUCK: Well, I just can't live with that. Tomorrow, I fight that man."_

 

From the transcript of "Love and Honor", at Zeke Black's Magnificent Seven Handbook

 

"I wish there was something we could do," Mary sighed. She looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms. "It just seems unfair that we've been so lucky, and you and Vin . . . "

 

Inez smiled, even as she rocked the drowsy toddler in her lap. "We are happy," she said, looking over the child's blond head to Mary. "And you and Chris are happy, yes?"

 

Mary smiled, the expression as honest and open as Inez had ever seen it. It was beautiful, the look of a Madonna from the pictures Josiah often shared with her when she was alone in the church. It made her own heart swell, crowding out the pain. "I don't know that I've ever been happier. I loved Stephen, and I missed him for so long. But Chris – well, he's so different. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad. There's never a boring moment."

 

"No, I suspect not," Inez smiled. "It is the same with Vin." She turned to look at the window, where Vin and Chris were showing Billy how to judge the quality of a horse. Vin had ridden over to Eagle Bend early this morning to bring back a string of horses he and Chris had bought, new stock for the ranch they owned together – the four of them owned together. She watched as Vin looked up at Chris, smiling, his eyes bright. She watched the smile grew wider as Chris reached out and dropped a hand on his shoulder while Billy looked at the pinto gelding. It was the boy's birthday present – he was thirteen today, old enough to have one of his very own.

 

On Inez's lap, Stephen shifted, yawned, then settled into sleep. He'd spent the afternoon and evening running around, riding on Vin's shoulders when they wanted to keep him out from under the hooves of the new horses. He'd finally worn himself out, despite the birthday cake he'd had just a little while ago.

 

"Billy is so happy with Chris," Mary said, and Inez looked at her, not surprised to find that she, too, was staring at the men. "I couldn't have made a better choice," she said. "Though sometimes I wonder . . ." She looked back, straight into Inez's eyes.

 

It was Inez who looked away first. There was nothing left to talk about, it was what it was. "You made the right choice," she said firmly, hugging the child on her lap. "We all did." Swallowing, she asked, "What are you going to name the new little one?"

 

Mary smiled, looking down at Baby Emma in her arms. "We're still trying to decide," she said, kissing her daughter on the brow. "We've both got too much family! Speaking of which, did I tell you that my mother's coming to visit – finally? She hasn't been out here since Billy was born." She chattered on about the pending visit, the things that needed doing and if Inez could help, which, of course, Inez could. It would be an honor to meet Mary's mother.

 

It would be a pleasure to spend whatever time she could with Mary.

 

It was late, well after dark, when the men finally came in from the barn. They stood on the large porch, stomping the mud off their boots and making the usual noise that they did, and they received the usual scolding for it – the little ones had just been put to bed and it was that fragile time when they could wake up too easily and stay awake for too long.

 

"We should be going," Inez said, catching Vin's arm as Mary finished her warnings to be quiet. "It is late and the babies will be awake far too early." She smiled at Mary, noting the rounding of her belly, which was becoming more the norm these days.

 

Mary smiled back, but it was a little sad. She reached out and caught Inez by the wrist, pulling her in close for a hug. Holding her tightly and a little too long.

 

Behind them, Inez heard Chris tell Vin to watch his back and knew that the two men were clasping wrists as they usually did when they parted.

 

They rode back to their own house, on the far side of the ranch, in silence. It was comfortable, each of them lost in their own thoughts. She recalled the evening, marking all the little things that were special. She suspected Vin was doing the same. When they arrived at the house, he helped her dismount, placing her carefully on the porch.

 

"I'll see you in the morning," he said, kissing her softly on the cheek before leading the horses to the barn to settle them for the night. The moon was bright and she watched him walk across to the barn, talking to the horses in a low, easy voice. He was a good man, someone she didn't think she'd ever find. A man who understood her. A man who respected her.

 

She turned and entered the small house, finding the lamp by the door and lighting it easily. She lit a second one, leaving it by the door for him, then she made her way through the main room to the small bedroom in the back. The bed was large enough for two, and sometimes, when there were guests, she and Vin had shared it. Sometimes, they even slept together, just holding each other.

 

Most times, though, he slept in the main room, on the daybed by the room's glass window. It had been their wedding present from Chris and Mary, a large glass window so they could look out on the ranch. It faced toward the south, toward the place Inez still missed, though she no longer thought of it as home. Of all the things Don Paulo had taken from her, that was the worst. For a while, she had thought that the worst was that she would never bear the touch of a man again, and thus, never have the joy of children.

 

But she had Mary's children, and that was enough for her. It was enough for Vin, too. She knew he had needs, knew that tonight, after spending time with Chris, he would spend a long while in the barn before coming into the house.

 

She was as happy as it was possible for her to be, and that it was because she was here. She knew, too, that it was something Vin shared with her, this bittersweet contentment.

 

As she undressed, drawing on her soft white gown, she thought about tomorrow. Like today, it was full of things to do, people to see. Her friends and her family, the one she had made here. The one she and Vin had made here. As she knelt to pray before the cross on her dresser, she started first with her thanks for all that she had, starting with the friendship and respect of the man to whom she was bound.


End file.
